A winter storm warning is in effect for parts of the north Georgia mountains as wintry weather continues to move through the state.
A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for Fannin, Gilmer, Union, Towns, Dawson, Lumpkin, Habersham, Pickens, Bartow, Cherokee, Paulding, Cobb, Carroll, Douglas and White Counties until 7 a.m. Saturday.
We'll be updating the latest forecast models of the winter weather, on Channel 2 Action News.
Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Glenn Burns says those areas affected in the warning could see 1- 2 inches of snow. Those areas above 1,500 feet could see upwards of 3 inches of snow.
“Overall, this is not going to be a major event for north Georgia,” Burns said.
White, Habersham, Lumpkin, Fannin, Union, Towns, Chattooga, Floyd, Dawson, Gordon, Rabun, Polk and Gilmer county schools have closed for Friday.
Much of the rest of north Georgia and parts of the Atlanta metro are under a Winter Weather Advisory until 7 a.m. Saturday.
Counties included in the advisory: Murray, Gordon, Dawson, Floyd, Bartow, Cherokee, Forsyth, Hall, Polk, Paulding, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Carroll, Douglas, DeKalb, Heard, Coweta, Fayette, Clayton, Troup
MINUTE BY MINUTE
7:56 a.m.: Cobb County Schools and its after-school programming will operate as usual, according to the district. However, parents are asked to pick children up from after-school programming as early as possible, and extra-curricular activities Friday night and Saturday are canceled.
7:44 a.m.: Moderate snow was reported in Marietta, also where the temperature is just above the freezing mark at 32.6 degrees, meteorologist Brad Nitz said.
7:30 a.m.: More than a dozen school districts have closed in North Georgia, although none are in metro Atlanta. Marietta City Schools, however, canceled after-school care, practices and events, according to the district's website.
7:27 a.m.: Pavement temps in Cobb and Cherokee counties are down to the mid-to upper 30s.
7:23 a.m.: Channel 2's Chris Jose is reporting snow in Cobb, Cherokee and Paulding counties.
7:17 a.m.: Snow amounts could hit 2 to 4 inches on the Northside. That could increase to between 4 and 5 inches in the North Georgia mountains, and patches of 6 inches are not out of the question, according to Channel 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz. Black ice is still a possibility Friday night and Saturday morning, when the low is expected to drop to 30 degrees.
7:09 a.m.: A mix of rain and snow has started in Marietta, but city schools plan to stay open, according to the district. Cherokee, Cobb, Forsyth and Fulton schools previously announced they would operate as normal.
7:03 a.m.: Snowfall rates could reach 1 inch an hour for a few hours in metro Atlanta, according to Nitz.
6:52 a.m.: Cobb and Douglas counties are likely to get snow totals closer to about 2 inches, Nitz said.
6:46 a.m.: The snowflakes are big and coming down quickly in Emerson in Bartow County, Nitz said.
6:41 a.m.: "Roads could be slick, especially bridges and overpasses," Nitz said.
6:39 a.m.: The temperature in Atlanta has dropped to 38 with rain in the area, meteorologist Karen Minton said.
TIMING:
Temperatures will continue to drop throughout the evening into the mid-30s.
The western and northern counties started to see rain transition over to snow around 3 - 4 a.m.
That transition area will continue to expand into the morning rush.
[PHOTO GALLERY: Winter weather 2017 viewer pics]
“As we go on through the early morning hours through 7 a.m., you will see mainly along and to the west of Interstate 85, is where we’re going to find those snow accumulations occurring first.”
Moving further into the morning, around 10 a.m. everyone is expected to remain above freezing except for the north Georgia mountains.
As we head into the afternoon, by about 1 p.m. temperatures begin to warm up a bit and then we’ll see another transition from more snow and a wintry mix, to more rain.
By about 3 p.m., temperatures climb back into the upper-30s and low 40s.
WHAT WE'VE SEEN SO FAR
BLACK ICE A CONCERN
Saturday will be another chilly day with lows down to about 30 degrees, but plenty of sunshine with a high of about 43.
Burns said black ice is also going to be a concern going into Saturday morning as runoff continues with melting snow and rain from Friday’s weather.
Temps will warm up a bit by Monday, with a high around 52 degrees.
What YOU can get only by watching Channel 2 Action News:
- Live radar and tracking the showers.
- Updated hour-by-hour cloud and rain, snow forecast for Friday.
- Updated longer-range forecast for lows in the 20s this weekend.
